Willow's First Surgery Tomorrow, March 2nd

Take a moment to gaze at the beautiful little precocious vixen pictured below. If you've been following this blog, you, too, may have become accustomed to this face... You, too, may mourn the loss of the face you've come to love as as Bao Bei Bubelah embarks on her surgery journey. To remind you, all the parts are there: there is just "some assembly required."

Twenty pounds (head 10, body 10).

Obviously Willow is a baby who was born with a bilateral cleft. She is scheduled to have her first surgery on Monday 2 March (at noon), during which her orthodontic surgeon (with the assistance of her plastic surgeon) will place an ortho-cleft retainer (using screws) along her upper teeth and palate to move her teeth and gums back into alignment. The presurgical orthopaedic appliance--using a blend of physics and art--will be in place for the next three weeks. On March 22nd, they will remove this device, and at the same time, the plastic surgeon will repair her upper lip. Her surgery is at Gillette Children's Specialty Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is an out-patient procedure, so we should be home that evening.

Prayers for weeWillow on Monday will be appreciated. It is expected that she will be in a lot of pain, post-surgery (her upper gumline will be moved quite a bit while she is in the operating room, using wires, force, and skill). Ouch (try braces x 1,000). After a few days, she should be feeling okay? For the next three weeks, she will be wearing something called "no-nos", which go over each arm and covering the elbow to prevent her from being able to bend her arms (and touch her mouth). Some kids go with the no-no flow; some are wild little animals trying to take them off :)

I've been cooking and pureeing in preparation, and have concocted something I am loosely calling Baked Willow Lasagna Casserole (organic: ground beef, garlic, ricotta cheese, little round pasta rings, mozzarella cheese, and sauce). She can pack quite a bit into her pie hole (see below). She's also been scarfing pureed mango-blueberry-raspberry mix, with a little acai berry juice to put the antioxidant level about as high as it can go (the photo doesn't capture the depth of color ... the taste is so deep and complex). And, of course, we've got pureed hotdogs (nitrate and preservative free) mixed with basmati congee in the freezer as well. I'd love an idea for yummy green vegetables, too? (I gave her edamame, but she peels off the outer layer and throws the inner beans at the dogs). She doesn't like cookies; she's got a sodium tooth instead.

First bite of Willow Casserole ...

And, soon thereafter ... there wasn't much left.

Puree of mango-blueberries-raspberry frozen fruit mixture from Trader Joe's.
Have we told you lately how much we love her? She is wild abandonment. She is shrieking joy. She is bubbling over with love and happiness. She is mischief and mayhem. When not picked up, she is crocodile tears. Her batteries get recharged by hugs of reassurrance and security. She is overjoyed by the dogs and watching them play. She is stealth while attempting to tease them. She is quiet cuddles and baby kisses. She is foot-stomping and hand flailing when her music plays on the speakers. When asleep, she is fitfull. When awake, hypervigilant. May we tell you again how much we love her?

Future national park ranger.

Those who know me well are aware that I have a scarf fetish. It is genetic, carried on the x chromosome (the affliction was passed down by my Mother, who is double recessive). I've managed to get a few scarves onto Willow (around her waist) ... then it hit me, in a flash of brilliance (after purchasing some cute bibs on Etsy)... Why not spice up Willow's daily attire with a scarf-like bib! (image below) Although I should have been cleaning or attending to paperwork during her nap, instead I was obsessed with making a chintz bib (for drool, not food) to match that day's attire. Now that I have the kinks worked out, I should be able to whip out some more and spice up her attire much more frequently.

Chintz bib-scarf.

More pictures below ...